The January + February Update 2018.

Its been two months since I last sat down and wrote a proper post, it’s a strange yet familiar feeling sitting in my armchair with my laptop and being able to simply write again. Though it wasn’t my intention to even take a break during January let alone February also but I have and perhaps it’s been for the best. Since I began writing and posting regularly on this blog in July last year it has been non-stop and frankly a creative release I’ve yearned for. Unfortunately, life began to unravel in the early months of this year and there wasn’t much I could do which is why I thought as my first post after my hiatus I thought I’d give you a little update!

At the beginning of 2018, I finished working my Christmas temp job working in another Waterstones. It was my third time working for the company as a Christmas temp and this was the biggest store which I have worked at which made me very anxious as I worried would I know enough or be able to cope. But I did it and loved having the opportunity to work in the Newcastle store as it’s the NothernBookBloggers regular meet up which meant I was able to see them popping in and out. The only thing which I regret is having to call in sick during my last couple of shifts, as I not only achieved catching the Aussie Flu which left me bedridden. But I also collected laryngitis, tonsillitis, a chest infection as long as my TMD being triggers which put me out for the rest of January. If you follow me on Twitter then you may have seen my tweets about all this, I don’t handle being ill well especially when I was constantly picking up another illness straight after.

Due to being ill, this meant that I missed quite a few lectures as Uni started again in the middle of the month (BOO!) but also quite a few exciting events! One of which I was really looking forward to which was the Launch of The Fandom by Anna Day which I am loving already despite only reading the first 50 pages! My fellow NorthernBookBloggers Liam and Rebecca blogged about the event so I will remember to link you all to their posts.

If you remember me from my Youtube channel, where A Cup of Wonderland was born, then you will perhaps know or seen the videos which I’d film with my Granddad. Which means you’d likely know about his declining health as well, as in August of last year my Granddad underwent a heart operation which was meant to restore his health. Unfortunately, around Christmas and during the first few weeks of January my Granddad started collapsing again which meant another operation had to be performed. Two weeks ago my Granddad went in to have a pacemaker fitted in order to help to keep his heart beating which would hopefully stop his symptoms and his passing out episodes. He appears to be much better now, though having to adjust to a must different lifestyle to the one which he was used to. For me, as I was ill, I wasn’t allowed to see him until last week once we were sure I had finally kicked out all the bugs and germs which were in me. I was so happy to see him and we finally gonna have a pizza and movie day sometime in the next few weeks – he’s excited as it means he finally gets to watch Fantastic Beasts!

As you might be able to tell from just those points, there has been a whole lot going on which is why I have been so inactive but I’d like to end this post on two positives which occurred during the last weeks of February! I’m going to start off with the unexpected surprise which I didn’t expect which was that I got to attend a preview screening of Love, Simon which I went to with my best friend Jen. The reason why this was so lovely was we hadn’t seen each other since Christmas Eve despite the 20-minute train journey which separates us. As a result of not seeing each other for so long, it meant we missed each others 20th birthdays as we were both ill. Before Love, Simon we also carried our tradition of ordering food and binge-watching some TV which we opted for RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars which I am really behind on. Though I am loving Aja and Shangela! I will be writing up a post on my thoughts of the Love, Simon film before it’s official release, it’s amazing, with hopefully my thoughts on the novel as well which I am yet to read but am extremely excited to start it!

Now onto the final point of this post, as many of you may have seen on social media is that we have a new member of the family! He’s actually asleep on my lap now, acting as my writing companion – he’s so cuddly. Toaby and Rambo now have a new baby brother who we have named Oscar and he’s quite a character. He’s only just turned 11 weeks old but he’s already a member of the family.

Oscar being a poser and photobombing blog photos.

Thank you all for reading, I am happy to be back and posting regularly and looking forward to March as it looks to be an exciting month!

Aww thank you! Bendela is doing so well! I am proud of her but I am nervous given the current rumours. Tonsilitis is the worst! I didn’t get a doctor to check it till quite far into it so it took ages to get rid off!

How cute is your puppy omg! As much as I hated retail work I think I’d actually enjoy working in a bookshop, I love Waterstones! It’s so good that your grandad is doing better I know how stressful and upsetting that must have been for you

Working in Waterstones is really fun as you get to be around books and talking about books all day! I really enjoyed my time working there. I am so happy with my Granddad as he has started to getting stronger and more positive. Thank you! x

Oh my goodness, you have had a time of it. But welcome back, I’m so glad you’re grandad is doing well, your health is better and you have such a cuuuuuuute puppy! I wish you all the best for this month and I’ll look forward to reading your future reviews! X

My heart was in my mouth when you started talking about your grandad, I thought you were about to say something awful. I was so relieved when you said he’s doing better!! I hope you’re fully recovered now too you must have felt so drained with all of that going on at the same time. Your pup is sooooo cute!! I hope he’s behaving himself x

His recovery is going to take time, but the doctors say in six months time that’s when he should be able to start getting more active again and go back to his normal lifestyle. Yes Oscar is cute but he is full of trouble and constantly on the go! He also loves getting up at 5:30 every morning!